University of New England

2008 Election Year: "Constructing Democracy"

UNE's Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Features Staff from the Highlander Research and Education Center

As part of the 21st annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, the University of New England will host a residency with staff from the Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, Tennessee.

The Highlander Center, which celebrated its 75th anniversary last fall, has a long history of supporting social justice movements, grassroots activism, and bringing individuals and groups together to envision and effect social change.  It was one of the leading training centers for many of the country’s best-known activists during the civil rights movement. 

All of the Highlander Center’s programs are unified by the common theme of “Constructing Democracy,” which means building a society in which all people can participate in the decisions that affect their lives. 

Featured Speakers

Elandria Williams, a youth and community organizer on the Highlander’s Education Team, will be the featured speaker on the University Campus in Biddeford January 22-24th. 

Anasa Troutman, a Highlander staff member who uses arts and culture for activist organizing and social change will be the featured speaker on the Westbrook College Campus in Portland January 30-February 1st.







Calendar of Events

University Campus - Biddeford

All MLK, Jr. events on the University Campus in Biddeford will be facilitated by Elandria Williams from the Highlander Center and are free and open to the public.

Tuesday, January 22 at 7:00 p.m.
Socrates Café:  Racism and Oppression in our Community?
St. Francis Room, Library, UC Campus in Biddeford

Wednesday, January 23 at noon
UC Keynote Address: “Constructing Democracy”
Elandria Williams from the Highlander Center
Multipurpose Rooms, Campus Center, UC Campus, Biddeford
A Service & Community Involvement Fair will be held at the same time and location.

Wednesday, January 23 at 6:30 p.m.
“Leadership for Activism” Workshop
Multipurpose Rooms, Campus Center, UC Campus, Biddeford.
To register for this workshop email ehavu@une.edu

Westbrook College Campus - Portland

All MLK, Jr. Events on the Westbrook College Campus in Portland will be
facilitated by Anasa Troutman from the Highlander Center and are free and open to the public.

Wednesday, January 30 at noon
WCC Keynote Address: “Why We Can’t Wait”
Anasa Troutman from the Highlander Center
Ludcke Auditorium, WCC Campus, Portland

Wednesday, January 30 at 5:00 p.m.
Socrates Café:  Racism and Oppression in our Community?
Cahner’s Lounge, Hersey Hall, WCC Campus, Portland

Thursday, January 31 at 1:00 p.m.
“Initiating Conversations: Tools for Change” Workshop
Alexander 07, WCC Campus, Portland

Thursday, January 31 at 6:00 p.m.
“Engaging Communities through the Arts” Workshop
Alexander 07, WCC Campus, Portland

Other Events

Other UNE Martin Luther King, Jr. events will include UNE Days of Service and Read-In Events at local elementary schools in Biddeford and Portland.

Speakers/Residency Leaders

Elandria Williams is on the Highlander’s education team and coordinates intergenerational organizing for the Seeds of Fire program and Justice School.  She has been involved in activism and organizing since she was a youth, and worked in popular education and community organizing around anti-oppression, anti-racism, nonviolence, education reform, and intergenerational education with various organizations.

Anasa Troutman is a Highlander staff member and consultant who has spent her life as an artist, producer, strategist and activist-organizer, developing her personal mission to use arts, culture and mass media for issue awareness, social change and personal transformation. Anasa worked with singer/songwriter India Arie, whose simple combination of voice and guitar was meant for personal healing and social change, and led to a platinum-selling album and international concert tour. In all her work, Anasa uses arts and culture to create justice, opportunity and compassion.

UNE’s MLK, JR. Event Details

Highlander Research and Education Center
The Highlander Research and Education Center began in 1932 as an experiential education program teaching the rural poor in the Southern Appalachia region self-advocacy tools. The school expanded during the civil rights movement to become one of the leading training centers for many of the country’s best-known civil rights leaders and many social justice activists have been affiliated with the Highlander including the Rev. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Pete Seeger and the Rev. Ralph David Abernathy.

The Highlander works with people struggling against oppression, supporting their effort to take collective action to shape their own destiny. It creates educational experiences that empower people to take democratic leadership towards fundamental change.  The founding principle and guiding philosophy of Highlander is that the answers to the problems facing society lie in the experiences of ordinary people. If real democracy is to be achieved, it will start with grassroots action. FMI on the Highlander Center visit www.highlandercenter.org.

Socrates Café
The Socrates Café is based on a book and subsequent programming initiated by Christopher Phillips and the Society for Philosophical Inquiry. The guiding principle behind Socrates Café is to create a vibrant and participatory democracy that allows many voices to be heard in a thoughtful and reflective philosophical sharing. Socrates Cafe is not a lecture or a debate or panel discussion, but a new way of discourse in which the primary purpose is to inspire each person within the community of inquiry to cultivate and discover his/her unique point of view. FMI on the Socrates Café visit www.philosopher.org.

For more information, call Donna Gaspar Jarvis at 602-2461.